Punctuality Policy

I. Purpose:

The purpose of this policy is to establish a process that minimizes waiting time in Salus clinics by encouraging patients to be on time for their scheduled appointments.

II. Scope:

This policy applies to all Contact Center staff, Clinic Registration, supervisors, administrators, and patients.

III. Policy:

Salus strives to provide high-quality health care. For this reason, a space is provided in the scheduler for each patient with a confirmed appointment, in order to minimize waiting time.

Late arrival to the appointment affects the following:

  1. The time that the doctor and the team has to care and dedicate to the patient.
  2. Patient tardiness increases delays, and therefore extends clinic sessions. This directly affects those patients who do attend their appointments on a timely manner.
  3. Operational effectiveness and patient flow
  4. Delay in treatment.

Some examples of Lateness include, but are not limited to:

  1. Arrive after 30 minutes prior to the appointment time.
  2. Call by phone the same day of the appointment to inform that you will be late for it.

IV. Definitions:

  1. Punctuality: the value of punctuality is the discipline of being on time to meet our deliberate commitments, examples: a work appointment, a meeting with friends, an office commitment, a pending job to deliver, a medical appointment.
  2. Tardiness: For the purposes of this policy, tardiness is considered to occur when the patient arrives at their appointment after the scheduled time.

V. Responsibilities:

  1. Patients: are responsible for arriving on time to their coordinated appointments at Salus clinics.
  2. Salus Contact Center Staff: is responsible for notifying patients that they must arrive 30 minutes before their scheduled appointment time so that they can begin the registration process.
  3. Salus Registration Staff: if the patient is late for their appointment, the registration staff is responsible for verifying the appointment slots to accommodate the patient. If this is not possible, they should discuss the situation with their supervisor or administrator.
  4. Salus Supervisors and/or Administrators: responsible for ensuring policy compliance within their team and clinic.

VI. Procedure: 

  1. Coordination of Services
    1. When coordinating a medical appointment, the Contact Center staff will notify the patient that they must arrive 30 minutes before the scheduled appointment time in order for them to begin with the registration process.
    2. If the appointment was scheduled in the last slot of the provider’s appointment book, the Contact Center or Registration staff of the clinics will notify the patient that they must arrive on time for their appointment. In case of arriving after their appointment time could result in them losing the appointment due to the clinic’s closing time.
  2. Day of the Coordinated Appointment
    1. On the day of the appointment, the patient must register upon arrival at the clinic.
    2. If the patient arrives at the clinic 30 minutes before their appointment time, the patient will be registered by the registration staff and then be seen by the clinical staff.
    3. If the patient arrives after their appointment time, the following procedure will be followed:
      • The patient will be notified that they are late for their appointment and have missed their turn.
      • The patient will be evaluated according to the availability of the physician with whom they have a scheduled appointment or another physician of the same specialty. The patient may have to wait until the other patients who arrived on time have been evaluated.
      • If the patient does not wish to wait to be seen, their appointment will be rescheduled, and a $25 fee will be charged.
      • Before denying service to a patient due to tardiness, staff must consult with the clinic supervisor or administrator, who will be responsible for making the final decision.
  3. Notice of Lateness
    1. The patient can call the contact center to notify their tardiness at 787-789-1996.
    2. The contact center staff will guide the patient that he can arrive at the clinic so that the clinic staff can evaluate and determine if he can be seen that same day.
    3. Contact center staff may reschedule the appointment if the patient determines not to make it to the clinic and will notify the patient that a $25 No-Show Fee will be charged.
  4. Backlog in patients flow
    1. Salus will always do what’s necessary to try and attend patients as timely as possible. However, due to the nature of the business, this is not always possible. Some patients have complex problems that arise on scene or situations that cannot wait and may cause some kind of delay with the Provider.
    2. The patients waiting to be attended will be notified if there is a delay of more than 30 minutes.
  5. Dating Confusions
    1. If for any reason the patient arrives at the clinic on another date than the one that was scheduled and confirmed, the possibility of attending the patient during the day will be evaluated. If accommodation is not possible for that day, the appointment will be rescheduled.

VII. Attachments:

None

VIII. Reference:

None

 

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